


Story

by AlwayzHuman



Series: Reveals [15]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Princess Bride, Reveal, Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 18:19:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13980744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwayzHuman/pseuds/AlwayzHuman
Summary: Tikki and Plagg tell them the story of how they came to be.





	1. Part One

"Hey Tikki/Plagg?" Marinette and Adrien asked in their individual homes, taking a break from their studies and looking at their kwamis. Tikki hummed in response from where she sat on top of the bluenette's computer, eating a cookie, while Plagg just continued to eat his cheese on Adrien's bed, much to the boy's disliking.

"Since I have a Kwami, does that mean Chat does too?" Marinette asked. Tikki stared at the girl, wondering whether or not to tell the bluenette about the story from long ago.

"Yes…" Tikki says slowly.

"Why do you care, kid?" Plagg asked his chosen.

"Well, it kind of just popped into my head that she could have a kwami too," Adrien explained. "And a few other things have been running through my head too. Like…"

"Where did you guys come from? Were you born or made somehow?" Marinette asked. "Have you and Chat's kwami ever gotten along? There is just so much that I don't know about you still." Tikki and Plagg both placed their food down and thought. To tell the story of the past or not to. To tell them would lead to them find out their identities. To not, would leave the child more confused than ever.

"Would you be willing to find out your partner's identity?" Both kwamis asked. Both heroes hesitated. Adrien worried that his Lady would be mad at him for finding out behind his back while Marinette was more worried about her kitty being disappointed in her being just Marinette.

"Y-yes," Marinette answered, hesitantly. "But… Only if Chat is okay with it."

"Only if Ladybug was okay with it," Adrien said, looking down. Both teens went back to finishing their homework and going to bed for the rest of the night. The next day, Marinette barely made it to class on time. Tikki and Plagg snuck out of their chosens' bags as soon as everyone was distracted and hid under Adrien's bench as they began to talk about the events of last night. They agreed to tell them the story that started it all. They also agreed to rename everyone so that they had the names of their future reincarnations.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Tikki asked her master.

"Yes and no. I'm more nervous about Chat finding out my identity than anything else," Marinette said. Tikki had explained that the name have changed from the originals to compensate for the reincarnations and that Chat had asked the same questions she did the night before.

"She was really okay with this?" Adrien asked his kwami after returning from dinner.

"Yeah. Big deal." Plagg said. "It just means I have to tell the whole thing." The black cat stuck his tongue out. "And there's kissing in it too." Marinette and Adrien both got comfortable in their beds and waited for their kwamis to start the story.

"Long ago, back in the times of kings and queens, a time when magic was more free roaming, there was a girl. She looked like a simple country girl with short midnight hair. She always wore red and black, despite her low class. Apart from her attire, she looked like a normal farm girl. However, that was not the case. She was a powerful witch called Ladybug that brought good fortune to everyone who came to her, but you cannot have good fortune without misfortune and no witch can be without a familiar. She grew up with a black cat that she named Chat Noir when she was very young. When she came of age, many suitors began to come to her door. None she fancied and thus turned their eyes to others who they were truly meant for. More and more suitors wished to try to win over her affections because she had lived by herself for so long. Until she finally had enough of it. After closing her shop one night, she decided to perform one last spell for the day. By morning, Chat Noir had become humanized and he began to protect his lady from other males who wished to marry her. After several weeks, the males finally backed off and Chat began to help Ladybug around on the farm."

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"Kitty! Bring in more lavender and basil!" Ladybug asked from her kitchen window. Chat, who still had his cat ears and a black tail, popped up from the garden just under the window with a small basket in his hands filled with lavender and basil and surprising Ladybug. She never called him Chat after turning him humanoid, only kitty

"As you wish, M'Lady," Chat said, handing her the basket before running off to attend another part of the farm to work. He wore a loose white shirt with black pants and dark shoes.

Kitty, bring in some corn for dinner.

Kitty, go fill these buckets with water.

Kitty, don't forget to dust the crops so that the front won't kill the plants.

For three years it went like that and for three years Ladybug heard him say the same thing over and over again.

As you wish, M'Lady.

One day Ladybug saw something in Chat's eyes that she never noticed before. Every time he said those words, she noticed a familiar feeling in his eyes. It took her three days to figure out that it was love. She had seen it before in the eyes of her suitors when they would try to woo her in the past. What surprised her was the fact that she returned his feelings.

"Kitty," Ladybug called when he came in the hut to bring firewood into the house. After setting the wood down, he walked over to her until he was only a few feet away from her. "Bring me that pitcher," she told him, looking at a pitcher that was hanging near her head. He walked over so that he was only a few inches away, their eyes locked on each other as he grabs the pan and places it on the counter behind her. She could feel the warmth radiating off of him.

"As you wish, M'Lady," he whispered. Before they could move any closer, Chat left to tend the farm again. Several weeks later, Chat Noir and Ladybug got together but couldn't wed. Many of the preachers there knew that Chat was originally a cat and that Ladybug was a witch. They didn't approve the marriage and refused to marry the two. So Chat packed his few belongings and got ready to leave to search for a preacher to wed them.

"Don't go. I fear I will never see you again," Ladybug said while on the verge of tears. Chat kissed her forehead.

"Of course you will, M'Lady," Chat reassured. "Hear this now: I will always come back for you. This is true love, you think this happens every day?" With that, they kissed. A month after his departure, Ladybug got news that his ship was taken over by the Dread Pirate Roberts, a pirate that never had survivors and never took prisoner. For days, Ladybug did not eat nor sleep. She never opened her shop again and all she did was sit by the window and stare at the scenery. Promising herself to never love again. Five years passed and Prince Nathaniel found Ladybug and took her from her home to marry her. His advisor, Hawkmoth, had suggested that a powerful witch such as Ladybug would be perfect for the kingdom that was just healing from an unexpected attack from an unknown witch. In the palace courtyard, where many citizens were gathered, Prince Nathaniel stood atop one of the towers to make an announcement with Hawkmoth by his side.

"My people... a month from now, our country will have its five hundredth anniversary. On that sundown I shall marry a powerful witch as a way to make peace with many witches within this country," Nathaniel says over the crowd. "Many of you have met her before. Please welcome my fiance, Princess Ladybug." Ladybug stepped into the courtyard as everyone there begins to bow and glanced at the crowd before turning her gaze to the prince.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"Although the law gave the prince the right to choose his bride, Ladybug did not love him," Plagg explained.

"Why didn't she just whisk herself away?" Marinette and Adrien asked their kwamisi.

"Because she was consumed by emptiness. She deeply loved Chat," Tikki explained to her chosen. "Just she did find joy. Although it may not have been one she took often, she did enjoy her horse back rides away from the castle.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Ladybug rode her horse out to the neighboring woods. The sun was starting to set and she knew she would have to return soon.

"A word, my lady?" A voice asked, making the witch stop her horse. A blonde woman, Chloe, stood there alongside two men, Ivan and Max. "We are but poor lost circus performers," Chloe said. "Is there a village nearby?"

"There is nothing nearby; not for miles," Ladybug informed. She was about to offer directions when Chloe interrupted.

"Then there will be no one to hear you scream," Chloe said as Ivan stepped forward and pinched the back of Ladybug's neck, preventing her from screaming and knocking her unconscious in the process. Chloe ripped a piece of clothing and placed it back on the horse before making the creature leave for the palace.

"What is it that you are ripping?" Max asked.

"It's the emblem of one of the most powerful witches in the exiled land of Guilder," Chloe explained.

"Who's Guilder?" Ivan asked.

"The land across the sea, the sworn enemy of Florin. When the prince sees this on his fiancée's horse, he will go searching for her only to find her dead on Guilder's border."

"You never said anything about killing anyone," Ivan complained. They brought her to their boat and began to sail away.

"I hired you pathetic buffoons to help me start a war!" Chloe raged.

"I just don't think it's right to kill an innocent girl," Ivan countered.

"Am I going mad or did the word THINK come out of your mouth? I'm the brains here! You're just some muscle I picked up from a dying circus!"

'I agree with Ivan,' Max thought. He would have spoken it but then she would have gone on a tangent again and he didn't feel like listening to it again. When Chloe was on the other side of the boat, Max spoke up to Ivan. "That Chloe, she can fuss." Ivan looked over to his friend, a playful glimmer in his eyes as he began to think.

"Fuss… fuss… I think she likes to scream at us."

"Probably she means no harm."

"She's really very short on charm."

"Oh, you've got a great gift for rhyme," Max praises, not noticing that either of them had slowly gotten louder or that Chloe was now closer to them.

"Yes," Ivan agreed. "Some of the time."

"Enough of that!" Chloe shrieks as the two try to muffle their laughter.

"Ivan," Max called as he walks to the back of the boat to steer. "Are there rocks ahead?"

"If there are, we'll all be dead!" Ivan answered.

"No more rhymes, I mean it!" Chloe shouts, becoming more frustrated.

"Anybody want a peanut?" Ivan asked. Chloe's screams echoed for miles as the boys held in their laughter. They sail for hours on end and even during the night. Ivan was guarding the princess's body, Max was at the helm, and Chloe sat motionless as she calculated the events to come in her head. No one seemed to notice the twitch of Ladybug's eye as she began to slowly wake up.

"We'll reach the cliffs by dawn," Chloe tells Max. The boy turns to look behind them. Again. Chloe had noticed him doing that every now and then for a while now. "Why are you doing that?"

"Just making sure no one is following us," Max said.

"That would be inconceivable," Chloe said, waving her hand at the notion.

"Despite what you think, you will be caught. And when you are, the prince will see to it that you all are jailed," Ladybug said, finally announcing her alertness.

"Would should be more worried about your own neck, princess," Chloe sneers. The blond notices Max turning again. "Stop doing that," Chloe says with annoyance. "We can all relax, it's almost over-"

"You're sure nobody's following us?" Max asks.

"I've already told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all ways, inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we've done and no one in Florin could have gotten here so fast." Chloe begins to laugh but stops as another thought crosses her mind. "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"No reason really," Max said with a shrug. "It's just, I happened to look behind us and saw something there." The three thieves rush to the back of the boat to see, leaving the princess unguarded. At first they don't see anything but then the moon slowly comes out and the three can see a boat in the distance. It was still a good ways off but it was rapidly approaching.

"Must be some idiot fisherman on a night cruise in eel infested waters," Chloe said, mostly to reassure herself. They suddenly hear a splash near their boat and turn to see that Ladybug had dived into the water as an attempt to get away from her captors. Chloe ordered the two men to go after her but Max didn't know how to swim and Ivan only knew how to dog paddle. So she ordered them to get the boat closer to Ladybug. The young witch suddenly stops her swimming when she begins to hear a high pitch shrieking sound that was much higher than Chloe's shrieks. "Do you know what that sound is, highness? Those are the Shrieking Eels- if you doubt me, just wait. They always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh." The shrieking was growing louder and she would have used her magic to defend herself but she had learned soon after Chat Noir left that her magic wasn't as strong without him and since she hadn't practiced her magic for so long, her powers were almost nonexistent. "If you swim back now, I promise, no harm will come to you. I doubt you'd get such an offer from the eels." The young witch didn't give a reply as fear began to set in as the eels grew ever so closer. The eels come closer to her, one with it's mouth wide open.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"Chill out, kid. The eels don't get her," Plagg says, interrupting the story. Adrien gave him a confused look. "The eels don't get her. I'm explaining to you because you look nervous." Adrien then noticed that he was gripping his computer chair's arm rests a little too tightly. "I think this is a good place to-"

"Don't stop!" Adrien complains, he wanted to find out who his lady was.

"Okay, okay. Relax kid," Plagg says with amusement before thinking about where he left off.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

The young witch didn't give a reply as fear began to set in as the eels grew ever so closer. The eels come closer to her, one with it's mouth wide open. Suddenly, a strong arm comes down to knock the eel unconscious and grab the princess from the water. It was Ivan.

"Put her down already," Chloe complained as she grabbed rope to tie Ladybug's hands. Max looks behind them again.

"I think he's getting closer," Max states.

"He's no concern of ours, sail on," Chloe ordered, now grumpy. "I suppose you think you're so much more brave just because you tried to rescue yourself, huh?" She grumbles to Ladybug.

"Compared to some," Ladybug retorts back, adding some sass to her voice. Nothing eventful happened for the rest of the night and the boat made it to the cliffs by dawn. Max was finally able to properly see the boat following them and the man steering it. The boat was black and seemed to be flying across the water while the man steering the boat seemed to match the color scheme of his boat.

"Look!" Max says, bringing their attention to the boat behind them. "He's right on top of us. I wonder if her is using the same wind we are."

"He is no longer our concern," Chloe says dismissively. "See? The Cliffs of Insanity!" When they finally stepped off the ship, Chloe tied herself and Ladybug onto Ivan while Max held onto his back while the giant climbed the rope up the cliff. "Aren't I brilliant? Only Ivan, here, has the strength to climb the mountain like this! He'll have to sail for hours to try and find a way up," Chloe says proudly. By the time the man in black reaches the rope, Chloe and her group are already far ahead. However, this doesn't seem to stop the man in black as he practically races up the rope after them, only Max seems to notice.

"He's climbing the rope," Max deadpans. "And he's gaining on us."

"What?!" Chloe shrieks. The blonde starts beating beating Ivan's chest and he quickens his pace. After quite some time, Max notices that the man in black has cut a chunk out of Ivan's lead. "FASTER!" Chloe shouts.

"I thought I was going faster?" Ivan grumbles.

"Well he's gaining on us!" Chloe growls out.

"Well I'm carrying three people and he's only got himself." Chloe begins to beat Ivan's chest again, even though it really isn't doing much but hurt her own hand.

"No excuses! I'll just have to find myself a new giant after this," Chloe scolds.

"Don't say that, please," Ivan says, hurt at having to leave Max with the blonde monster alone. Getting tired, Ivan begins to slow down as the man in black seems to speed up. They were almost to the top, maybe a hundred or so feet left.

"Did I mention that your job is on the line?!" Chloe complains again. As soon as the four reach the top, Chloe hops off to begin to cut the rope. Max helps the princess to her feet while Ivan stands around, not knowing what to do. As soon as the rope was cut, it slithered over the edge, never to be seen again. Ivan, Max, and Ladybug all look over the edge and sees the man in black hanging onto the rocks of the cliff.

"He has very good arms," Ivan complements. Chloe joins them and looks over the edge and sees the man as well.

"He didn't fall? Impossible!" Chloe says, stomping her foot. Max gave her a skeptical look before returning his gaze to the man hanging and gasps.

"He's climbing!" Max shouts. The man was climbing up the rocks ever so slowly as to insure he had a good grip.

"Whoever he is, he's obviously seen up with the princess, and must therefore die," Chloe growls out. She then whirls on Ivan. "You, carry her." She then turns to Max. "We'll head straight for the Guilder frontier. Catch up when he's dead. If he falls, fine. If not, the sword." Chloe had pointed to the sword around his hip that he carried constantly. At her command, Max nods.

"I want to use my left hand," Max said.

"You know what a hurry we're in!" Chloe whine.

"If I use my right, it'll be over too quickly." Chloe just rolled her eyes and stormed off. Ivan made his way over to Max.

"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted," Ivan warned and Max nodded.

"I'm waiting!" Chloe shouts. Ivan quickly picks up Ladybug and follows Chloe. Max watches them leave before returning his gaze back to the man in black. He then backs away from the edge and begins to practice with his left hand until he becomes bored and checks on the man again. Out of boredom, Max begins to talk to the man.

"Hello there!" The man grunts after glancing up at him. "Slow going?"

"Look," the man said, irritated because Max was distracting him. "I don't mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks. So I'd ap-purr-eciate it if you wouldn't distract me."

"Sorry."

"Thank you." Max steps away and begins to practice again. When he grew tired once more, he looked back over the edge.

"I do not suppose you could speed things up?"

"If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope, or a tree branch, or find something useful to do," the man in black was tired and was growing more and more frustrated.

"There is some rope up here that I could send down but I do not think you will accept my help since I am only waiting around to kill you," Max explained.

"That does put a damper on our relationship," the man said as he climbs another inch.

"But I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top."

"That's very comforting," the man in black says sarcastically. "But I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."

"I hate waiting. I could give you my word as a fencer."

"No good. I've known too many fencers, despite myself being one." The man in black just hangs there for a moment to gather his energy.

"You don't know any way you'll trust me?"

"Nothing comes to mind."

"I swear on the soul of my father, Domingo Kante, you will reach the top alive." The man in black stops and stares up at Max for a few seconds.

"Throw me the rope." Max does so and the man in black climbs up quickly. "Thank you." Max gives him a few minute to rest from the climb and dump out the rocks from his shoes. Max notices that the man wore a lot of leather on his outfit and a soundless bell around his neck.

"I do not mean to pry, but you don't by chance happen to have a purple butterfly brooch, do you?" Max asked. The man in black gave him a questioning look.

"Do you always begin your conversations this way?" The man in black asked. Max shook his head and began to explain.

"My father was killed by a man with a purple butterfly brooch. My father was a great swordmaker and when the man with the purple butterfly brooch appeared and requested a special sword, my father took the job. He constantly worked on it for a year until he was done," Max said, handing his sword to the man in black for inspection. The man in black was impressed. "The man with the purple butterfly brooch returned and demanded it, but at one tenth his promised price. Father refused and lost his life to the man with the purple butterfly brooch. I loved my father and so, out of anger, I challenged him to a duel. I was young at the time, only eleven, and failed. He left me with the sword and my father's corpse. When I became strong enough, I began to learn fencing. So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to him, raise my sword, and say: 'Hello, my name is Max Kante. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"

"You've done nothing but study swordplay?"

"More pursuit than study, lately," Max informed, shrugging. "I haven't found him and it's been twenty years now. I'm losing confidence and I need to pay the bills. That's why I am working for Chloe. You'd be surprised at how little money vengeance can make." The man in black returned Max's sword and stands. Max noticed that the man in black carried a staff where a sword might hang and had a black tail swinging behind him. "You have a tail?" Max asked, skeptically. The man in black turned to look at his tail.

"Why does everyone ask about the tail?" The man in black mumbled. "I was born with it. Most don't usually notice it," the man in black said. "I was born with it. I was originally a cat, you know. But that was before M'Lady changed me."

"So you work for a witch?" Max questioned.

"No, I am in love with my witch. I was her familiar before she changed me. I left her in order to find a preacher to wed us." The man in black's wistful face turns into confusion and anger as he continues. "However, she now seems to be marrying another and I do not understand why." Chat then stretches and pulls out his staff.

"Are you ready, then?" Max asked, referring to the battle ahead.

"Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair."

"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."

"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die." And so the battle began. The two fought, the man in black using his staff as a sword, all across the ruins. It started off as a tease but quickly grew to an actual battle. The two bantered, talking about different techniques, and the man in black was using his left hand to fight. The two seem to fly across the ruins as the battle raged on, bantering here and there. The battle continued and the two eventually switched the hands their weapons were in before the battle intensifies.

"Who are you?"

"Just a familiar wanting to return to his witch."

"I must know my opponent's name," Max insisted.

"Get used to disappointment."

"Okay." The war between the two rages on until the man in black finally knocks the sword out of Max's hand, making him fall to his knees with exhaustion.

"I won't kill you," the man in black says. "I believe you'll find your murder one day. However, I can't have you following me either." With that, the man in black knocked Max out with his staff. "Please understand, I hold you in the highest respect." He then ran after Ivan, Chloe, and Ladybug.

"Impossible!" Chloe shrieks. "Give her to me." Ivan gently places Ladybug down and Chloe grabs her tied wrists. "Catch up with us quickly."

"What am I supposed to do?" Ivan asked.

"Finish him your way," Chloe hisses.

"Oh, good, my way. What's my way?"

"I don't know! Throw a rock at his head, tear apart his limbs, wrestle him. I don't care! Just fine a way to get rid of him!" Chloe then hurries away, dragging Ladybug along.

"That doesn't sound very sportsman like," Ivan mumbles before grabbing a rock and hiding behind a bolder. He waited until he could see the man in black coming near. Ivan threw the boulder and hit another boulder mere inches from the man in black's head. Ivan comes out of hiding with another rock in his hand. "I did that on purpose. I don't have to miss."

"I believe you. So what happens now?" The man in black asks.

"We face each other sportsmanlike. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone."

"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my staff and we'll wrestle?"

"I could kill you now," Ivan suggested, raising the rock up. The man in black places his staff down and Ivan does the same with his rock before he noticed the tail swishing behind the man in black. "You have a tail?" The man in black looked annoyed but continues on.

"Yes. I was born with it. Frankly, I think the odds are slightly in your favor," the man in black says.

"Not my fault, I don't exercise and I still look this way." The man in black tries several times to tackle the giant but fails. After his fifth attempt, he speaks.

"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?"

"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed." This time, Ivan was the one charge. The man in black crouches and jumps over Ivan with ease before easily landing on his feet. "You're quick."

"And a good thing too," the man in black laughs.

"Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something?"

"Oh no. It's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future," he jokes as he dodges the giant once more. Only, instead of fully dodging, the man in black jumps and clings onto Ivan's back. The man in black had his arms wrapped around Ivan's throat, cutting off some of the oxygen. The man in black held on, waiting for the giant to collapse while Ivan continuously squashed him with the giant boulders. The man in black decides to get the giant talking until he passed out. After a long conversation, Ivan finally fell unconscious. The man in black checked his pulse and found that Ivan was still alive. "I don't envy you. The headache you will have when you wake. But, in the meantime, rest well… and dream of large women." With that, he grabbed his staff and ran for Chloe and Ladybug once more. Meanwhile, Prince Nathaniel and Hawkmoth were slowly catching up. They were currently investigating the ruins where the battle took place earlier that morning. However, Max was now missing, having run away after he woke up from the defeat. Hawkmoth was busy tracking the battle, trying to figure out which way the victor went.

"There was a mighty duel- it ranged all over. They were both masters," Hawkmoth informed. "THe loser ran off alone while the winner followed the footprints towards Guilder."

"Shall we track both?" Nathaniel asked.

"The loser is nothing, your highness. Only the princess matter." Hawkmoth returns to the his horse before addressing the soldiers. "Clearly this was all planned by warriors of Guilder. We must be ready for whatever lies ahead."

"Could this be a trap?" The prince asked worriedly.

"I always think it's a trap. That's how I've stayed alive." Hawkmoth vaulted onto his horse and they took off to follow the footsteps. The man in black finally caught up to Chloe but had to stop when the blond pressed a knife to Ladybug's neck. The man in black notice that the young witch was blindfolded, which confused him.

"So, now it's down to you and me," Chloe hummed. The man in black nods and takes a step close but stopped when Chloe pressed the knife closer to Ladybug's bare neck. "If you wish her dead, by all means keep moving forward."

"Let me explain-"

"There's nothing to explain. You're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen."

"Purrhaps an arrangement could be made?"

"There will be no arrangement!" Chloe humphs. The man in black began to think quickly before he smirked with an idea. He leaned against his staff nonchalantly.

"How about a battle of wits?" The man in black suggested. Chloe arched an eyebrow at him.

"For the princess?" He nods at her and Chloe puts away her knife. The man in black comes over to sit in front of the two ladies.

"Good. Now pour the grape juice." The man in black pulled out a small vial with clear liquid inside from his near invisible pocket. "Inhale but do not touch," the man in black instructed as he took off the top of the vial. Chloe sniffed and gave a confused look to him. "What you do not smell is the nectar of a wild black rose that can only be found in the deepest, darkest jungles on the other side of the ocean. It will not harm you but it will knock you out for at least a day. It will blend into any liquid and is tasteless." The man in black took the two goblets and hid them from Chloe's view in order to hide the sleeping poison. When done, he placed the two goblets back at the table. "The battle of wits have begun. Where is the poison? It ends when you decide and we both drink." Chloe decided to start rambling, hoping to get an answer to slip from him. All it did was make him dizzy. When that fail, she began to stall until she could think of another plan which tricked him to look behind him. She quietly switched the glasses but he could still hear the goblets settling back down on the rock table. He turned back to her and saw her chuckling. "What's so funny?"

"I'll tell you in a bit," Chloe said, waving her hand. "First, lets drink!" Chloe chugged her's down while the man in black took a slow drink from his.

"You guessed wrong," the man in black said, smirking.

"You only think i guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned, you fool!" Chloe began to laugh like a maniac before she toppled over as sleep took over her. The man in black stepped over the unconscious Chloe and removed the blindfold from Ladybug's eyes before going to her bindings.

"Who are you?" Ladybug asks.

"I am no one to be trifled with, that is all you ever need to know," the man in black said to her before making her stand up and run with him.

"To think, all this time the poison was in your glass."

"They were both poisoned. I just spent the last few years working up an immunity to it." By this point, Prince Nathaniel and Hawkmoth had reached the area where the man in black and Ivan fought. The man in black reached a rocky area of a large hill before letting go of Ladybug so she could sit on a rock and rest.

"Catch your breath," the man in black ordered.

"You'll get whatever you ask for ransom if you let me go," Ladybug tried to reason, tired of getting kidnapped.

"And what is that worth, the promise of a woman? You're very funny, highness."

"I was giving you a chance!" Ladybug snapped. "Hawkmoth is a great hunter. He will find you."

"You think your dearest love's advisor will save you?"

"I never said he was my dearest love. And yes, he will save me if I don't free myself with my own magic."

"You do not love your fiancé?" He asked, wanting some information.

"He knows I do not love him," Ladybug said confidently.

"'Are not capable of love' you mean," the man in black corrected.

"I have loved more deeply and more furiously than a killer like yourself ever could!" Ladybug yelled. The man in black raised his hand, ready to slap her when he stopped. She didn't move, not even a flinch, and he could see the look of honesty and truth in her eyes. Yet he knew she was wrong because he still felt that love she spoke of.

"That is a warning, highness. Do not lie to me again, there are penalties where I come from." All she did was roll her eyes. Then she noticed his tail.

"You have a tail?" Ladybug could hear a growl come from him as said tail bag an to swish violently.

"I was born with it," he growled out before grabbing her again and running off. Meanwhile, Hawkmoth was at the sleeping body of Chloe and was trying to figure out what kind of poison was used. After running for a while longer, the man in black allowed Ladybug to rest again.

"I know who you are," Ladybug announces. "Your cruelty reveals everything, Dread Pirate Roberts!" He bows to her dramatically.

"With pride. What can I do for you, princess?"

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"That was the first time he called you princess," Tikki explained.

"Really?" Marinette asks and her Kwami nods. The bluenette smiled before a thought that confused her occurred. "Tikki, this story takes place during the reign of kings and queens. How is it that you were around during ancient Egypt?"

"Actually, this was just before our time in Ancient Egypt," Tikki explained before continuing the story.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"With pride. What can I do for you, princess?"

"You can die slowly or be cut up into a thousand pieces," she orders with a glare. The man in black raised an eyebrow at her order.

"Why throw your venom at me, princess?"

"You killed my love. A simple farm boy, my familiar that I turned human. His hair shined like the sun and his eyes were lucky green. We did everything together." A small smile began to spread across her face for the first time since she lost Chat before it turned into a frown. "You killed him when he left to try to find a preacher to wed us. Dread Pirate Roberts never takes prisoners." The man in black just stared at her for a while before he began to talk.

"I can't afford to make exceptions. One word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft and it's nothing but constant work afterwards."

"You mock my pain!" She shouts, furious. Ladybug could feel some of her power returning to her but not enough to do much with it.

"Life is pain, princess. Anyone who tells differently is selling something! I remember your farm cat, I think. This would be, what? Five years ago?" She nods at him. "Black cat ears?"

"The softest that there ever was," she whispers.

"Does it bother you?"

"Nothing you say can bother me."

He died well, that should please you. No bribe attempts or blubbering. He simply said 'Please. Please I need to live.' It was the please that caught my memory. I asked him what was so important to him. 'True love,' he told me. And then he began to speak of a young witch with immense power, beauty, and faithfulness. I can only assume he was talking about you. You should bless me for destroying him before he found out what you really are."

"And what am I?"

"Faithfulness he talked of, princess. Your enduring faithfulness. Now tell me, princess. When you found out he was gone, did you get married to your prince that same hour or did you wait a week out of respect for the dead?!" Ladybug became angry at his assumptions. The memory of that day slowly becoming fresh in her mind as more of her power returned to her.

"You mocked me once! Never do it again- I died that day," she shouted back. The man in black was about to answer but heard hoof steps in the distance. Ladybug stood and moved so she was in front of him and the steep ravine was behind him. "You can die too, for all I care!" With that, Ladybug used her slowly growing powers to push the man in black down the ravine.

"...As … You… Wish…." He calls as he rolls down, down, down. The words jerked Ladybug's memories of her kitty and gasped when she saw the mask fly off. Blond hair and black ears caught her eyes.

"Chat!" She called before racing down after him, tripping in the process and rolling down as well. She stopped near the bottom, only feet away from her familiar. Both were bruised and sore from the fall. After a few minutes, Chat forced himself to crawl next to his witch, their faces close together.

"Can you move?" He asked, caressing her face lovingly as she began to cry with joy.

"Move? You're alive, I could fly without my broom!" She pulled him down to kiss him, overjoyed to see him again. This kiss was passionate, desperate, and filled with joy.

"I told you, 'I will always come back for you.' Why didn't you wait for me?" He asked after the kiss was broken.

"I thought you were dead-" Chat interrupted her.

"Death cannot stop true love, only delay it."

"I will never doubt love again." He touched his forehead with her's.

"There will never be a need to." They kiss again, this one sweet, chaste, and not as desperate as the last one.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"So Chat and I were really that much in love?" Marinette asked her Kwami, now questioning her feelings for Adrien. Tikki nodded at her charge's question. "Why do you keep encouraging me to be with Adrien then?"

"You'll see," Tikki says with a giggle.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Ladybug and Chat Noir raced along the ravine floor towards the Fire Swamp. They stopped just a ways away from the entrance and turned to see horses on the top of the ravine.

"I think they're just horsing around. They'll never reach us before we reach the Fire Swamp!" Chat said with a laugh.

"FIRE SWAMP!" Ladybug squeals as she is dragged towards the swamp.

"You're only acting like that because no one has ever survived before," Chat said with a laugh.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"Hold up!" Adrien interrupted. "Were are all my puns?" Adrien asked.

"This was before you started getting interested in puns, kid. You still said some from time to time but it wasn't something you did all the time back then," Plagg explained. "This was the first time in all of your rebirths that you called Ladybug your princess." Adrien got confused. He only called Marinette that.

"Plagg, I only call Marinette my princess," Adrien told him, hoping for more of an answer from his Kwami.

"You humans all look the same to me," Plagg said with a shrug, not wanting to explain if he didn't get it with such a big hint.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tikki and Plagg finish their story.

Lady clung to Chat as they started walking through the Fire Swamp.

"It's not that bad. I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here but the trees are quite lovely," Chat says before Lady gave him a look that said 'You've got to be kidding me.' They could hear popping sound before fire spurted from the ground, catching the bottom of Ladybug's dress on fire. Chat quickly tore that part of the dress off and left it on the ground to burn. "Well now, that was an adventure." They begin walking again when they hear the popping again. Chat picks up Ladybug and moves her to his other side just as another pillar of flame flamed up. "Well, one thing is for sure. The Fire Swamp certainly keeps you on your toes." He continues to lead her through the dangerous place, a Rodent of unusual size watched them for a bit from a branch before it continued onwards. "This will all soon be but a happy memory because Roberts' ship "Revenge" is anchored at the far end. And I, as you know, am Roberts."

"How? Hasn't Roberts been invading the sea for 20 years? You only left me five years ago." Ladybug was confused so Chat decided to explain further.

"I am often surprised of life's little quirks." Popping was heard and Chat picked her up again before placing her back on her feet after the small pillar of fire stopped. "You see, what I told you before about saying 'please' was true. It intrigued Roberts, as did my descriptions of your beauty." Chat uses his staff to whack down some nasty vines. "Finally, Roberts decided something. He said, 'All right, Chat Noir, I've never had a valet. You can try it for tonight. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.' Three years he said that. 'Good night, Chat Noir. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.' It was a fine time for me. I was learning to fence, to fight, anything anyone would teach me. And Roberts and I eventually became friends. And then it happened." Chat picked up Ladybug to go over a rickety tree branch that rested over some swamp water. "Well, Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. So he took me to his cabin and told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts,' he said. 'My name is Kim. I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts, either. His name was Fu. The real Roberts has been retired fifteen years and living like a king in Patagonia.' Then he explained the name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Chat." They had finally crossed the pond and he placed her on her feet again. "So we sailed ashore, took on an entirely new crew and he stayed aboard for a while as first mate, all the time calling me Roberts. Once the crew believed, he left the ship and I have been Roberts ever since. Except, now that we're together, I shall retire and hand the name over to someone else. Is everything clear to you?" Ladybug was about to answer when the ground below her fell through. She had been captured by Lightning Sand and was quickly sinking. By the time Chat had grabbed a sturdy vine, Ladybug could no longer be seen. He dived in, the vine trailing behind him, and stayed under for a long period of time. Another rodent passes by, this one sniffing the Lightning Sand before moving on out of sight. Suddenly, Chat bursts out, Lady across his shoulders, panting for air as he uses the vine to pull them both out. They are both still covered in sand as they finally reach safety. Chat sets her on a tree branch and begins to try to clean her off. A noise catches his attention and he looks around, momentarily distracted from his lady, and sees the rodent on a low branch. Lady's eyes flutter open and Chat returns to tending to her.

"We are never going to make it out alive," Ladybug grumbles as she returns to her feet.

"That just isn't true, M'Lady," Chat protested before leading her onwards. "I mean, what are the three terrors of the Fire Swamp? One, the flame spurts. No problem. There's a popping sound preceding each, we can avoid that. Two, the Lightning Sand. But you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too."

"Chat, what about the R. O. U. S. 's?" Lady asked.

"Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist…" The moment he finished that thought, a large rodent attacks him, knocking him to the ground. Ladybug screams in fright and freezes up as she watched Chat fight the beast. When she finally gathered her nerves again, she grabbed Chat's staff, which had flown out of his reach, and hit the creature with all her might, sending it into the Lightning Sand. They make it the rest of the way through the Fire Swamp and sees a beach in the distance. "Now, that wasn't so terrible, was it?" Chat says smugly as they quicken their pace. Nathaniel on his horse, Hawkmoth beside him. Three warriors, armed and ready, are mounted in formation behind. Ladybug and Chat Noir are at the edge of the Fire Swamp, about to leave it. They stop. Ladybug looks beyond exhausted while Chat looks far worse. However, his appearance doesn't stop him from placing himself in front of his lady.

"Surrender!" Hawkmoth orders. Chat and Lady could see the bay just out of reach.

"You mean you wish to surrender to me?" Chat says smugly. "Very well, I accept." Lady does her best to hide her laughter at her familiar's antics.

"I give you full marks for bravery -don't make yourself a fool," Hawkmoth warned, growing wary of the blond. Yet he was curious about the cat ears on his head.

"Ah, but how will you capture us? We know the secrets of the Fire Swamp. We can live there quite happily for some time. So, whenever you feel like dying, feel free to visit."

"I tell you once again - surrender!"

"It will never happen!"

As the males argue, Ladybug took a look around and noticed a hidden armed guard with a crossbow aimed at Chat's heart. No. Two men. No. Three.

"DEATH FIRST!" Chat yelled, catching Ladybug's attention again. Her heart lurched and she spoke before she could stop herself.

"Will you promise not to hurt him?"

"What was that?" Nathaniel asked, having been too preoccupied with the argument.

"If we surrender, and I return with you, will you promise not to hurt this man?" Ladybug said more calmly this time. Nathaniel nodded, answering for Hawkmoth. "He is a sailor on the pirate ship "Revenge." Promise to return him to his ship."

"It will be done, Princess Ladybug," Prince Nathaniel answered. Ladybug and Chat turned to each other as the guards gathered and exited the trees.

"I thought you were dead once, and it almost destroyed me. I could not bear it if you died again, not when I could save you," Ladybug said to her love. Before either could say any more, Nathaniel pulled her onto his horse and rode off. Hawkmoth and Chat just stood there, staring at each other for a while.

"Come, sir. We must get you to your ship," Hawkmoth said.

"We are men of action. Lies do not become us," Chat answered back.

"Well spoken, sir." Chat took another look at the advisor and noticed a purple butterfly brooch holding his collar together. The cat man could also sense a dark power with the man, making him very wary. "What is it?"

"You wear a purple butterfly brooch. I met someone recently who was looking for you." Hawkmoth clubs him on the head, knocking the familiar out.

"Take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair," Hawkmoth orders his soldiers before following the prince and princess. When Chat woke up, he was chained to a table in the Pit of Despair. A woman in rags with black hair tied in a bun and red bangs entered the room with a bowl and rag. She walked up to him and began to clean his wounds.

"Where am I?" Chat asked.

"In the Pit of Despair," she says in a husky voice. She coughs and clears her throat. "Don't even think about trying to escape. The chains are far too thick. And don't dream of being rescued either. The only way in is secret. And only Hawkmoth and I know how to get in and out," Natalie said, continuing with her medical treatment.

"Then I'm here until I die?"

"Until he kills you, yes."

"Then why bother curing me?"

"He always insist on everyone being healthy before they're broken. It's a torture thing."

"I can cope with torture." Natalie shakes her head. "What? You don't believe me?"

"Oh no. You came through the Fire Swamp. You must be very brave… but no one can stand Hawkmoth's machine. It's magically together too." Meanwhile, Ladybug walks through the palace corridors in a daze. She so desperately wanted to return to her kitty and was thinking of ways to do so. As she passed an intersection in the corridors, she also passed Nathaniel and Hawkmoth.

"She's been like that since the Fire Swamp," Nathaniel observed.

"It's because of your father's failing health," Hawkmoth reassured.

"Of course," the prince said, not believing a word. He knew the look she and the man in black shared. It was the same one his parents gave to each other. Nathaniel could tell they were lovers and, based on the cat ears, he suspects he was her familiar before she turned him humanoid.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"The King died that very night, and before the following dawn, Ladybug and Nathaniel were married. And at noon, she met her subjects again. This time as their Queen. Nathaniel began his announcement: 'My father's final words were…'" Adrien interrupted Plagg's story.

"Hold on a minute, Plagg. You've got to be telling the story wrong. Ladybug can't marry Nath! Sure Nathaniel is a good guy and all but still! Lady and Chat love each other! It wouldn't be fair!"

"Kid, I never said and will never say that life is fair. Life isn't always fair, kid. Now do you want me to continue the story or not?" Adrien nodded and Plagg continued. "Nathaniel began his announcement: 'My father's final words were "love her as I loved her, and there will be joy." I present to you your Queen. Queen Ladybug.' Ladybug emerges into the courtyard where a very large crowd, this one much larger than the last, had gathered. Ladybug watches with a blank stare as everyone began to bow before her. Booing is heard and Ladybug begins to track down who it was. She found a headstrong woman named Alix as the source of the booing. 'Why do you do this?' Ladybug asks. Alix replies with 'Because you had love in your hands, and you gave it up.' Ladybug became confused at her remark. 'They would have killed him if I hadn't done it,' Ladybug protested, but Alix fought back. 'Your true love lives and you marry another,' Alix complains, 'True love saved her in the Fire Swamp, and she treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of Refuse! So, bow down to her if you want. Bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo! Boo! Rubbish! Filth! Slime! Muck! Boo! Boo!'"

"Come on, Plagg. Alix would never say anything so mean," Adrien defended. Plagg just shushed him and continued, making the boy roll his eyes.

"Alix began to advance on Ladybug, her booing growing louder. Nobody moved to stop Alix as Ladybug began to panick. Alix then reached for the witch's throat when Ladybug woke up from her nightmare. It was ten days till the wedding. The King still lived, but Ladybug's nightmares were growing steadily worse."

"SEE!" Adrien cheered. "Didn't I tell you she wouldn't marry Nathaniel?!"

"Yes, you're very smart. Now shut up."

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Ladybug burst into Nathaniel's chambers, Hawkmoth standing beside the prince. Ladybug never liked Hawkmoth since the beginning. She could feel the evil mixed into his powers and didn't like, or trust, him one bit. However, she did not enter this chamber because of the wizard.

"It comes to this: I love Chat Noir," Ladybug announces. "I always have. I know now I always will. If you tell me I must marry you in ten days, please believe I will be dead by morning."

"I could never cause you grief," Nathaniel answered. "Consider our wedding off. You returned this Chat Noir to his ship?"

"Yes," Hawkmoth lied.

"Then we will simply alert him. Beloved, are you certain he still wants you? After all, it was you who did the leaving in the Fire Swamp. Not to mention that pirates are not known to be men of their words," Nathaniel said, not knowing if his suspicions are right about this Chat guy.

"Pirates may be so, but familiars can never lie to their witches. My Chat will always come for me," Ladybug said with much confidence while confirming Nathaniel's suspicions.

"I suggest a deal," Hawkmoth intervened. "You write four copies of a letter. I'll send the prince's four fastest ships. One in each direction. The Dread Pirate Roberts is always close to Florin this time of year. We'll run up the white flag and deliver your message. If Chat Noir wants you, bless you both. If not ... please consider Prince Nathaniel as an alternative to suicide. Are we agreed?" She nods but knows that if Chat did not come for her, she would die. Whether it be by her hand or a broken heart, she did not know. Later that day, Hawkmoth went out and met with Natalie in woods filled with heavily knotted trees.

"The Princess is really a winning creature. A trifle simple, perhaps, but her appeal is undeniable," Sabrina said, following Hawkmoth.

"Oh, I know. The people are quite taken with her. It's odd, but when I hired Chloe to have her murdered on their engagement day, I thought that was clever. But it's going to be so much more moving when I strangle her on their wedding night. Once Guilder is blamed, the nation will be truly outraged. They'll demand we go to war," Hawkmoth schemed as they moved deeper into the woods. He stops at one tree and begins searching. "Now, where is that secret knot? It's impossible to find." Finding the knot on the tree he hits it, and it opens, revealing a staircase leading underground. "Are you coming down into the Pit? Chat's got his strength back. I am starting him on The Machine tonight."

"Hawkmoth, you know how much I love watching you work. But, I've got the country's five hundredth anniversary to plan, the prince and princess's wedding to arrange, your schedule to murder his wife, and finding a way to frame Guilder. I'm swamped," Natalie complained.

"Get some rest - if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything," Hawkmoth advised before bolting down the stairs just before it closed. Hawkmoth quickly wired up Chat to the machine he had created. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Hawkmoth says, coming to stand next to Chat. "It took me half a lifetime to invent it and place the proper magical symbols on. I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain and emotions. At present I'm writing the definitive work on the subject. So I want you to be totally honest with me on how The Machine makes you feel." Hawkmoth turns to a dial that ranged from 1 to 50. "Since this is your first time, we'll start with the lowest setting." He cranked the dial to one and the machine begins to move. Hawkmoth started fiddling with his Machine a moment more. And then he opens the floodgate, water pours down the chute, turning the wheel, which in turn really gets The Machine going. A terrible sound comes from his throat, an incessant gasping. Meanwhile, Ladybug was staring out the window when she suddenly felt unbearable pain that left her gasping for breath. Her eyes widened as she realized that Chat was in trouble. Back in the pit the sound continues on until Hawkmoth switches it off before sitting in a chair, paper and writing utensil in hand. "As you know, the concept of the suction pump is centuries old. Well, really, that's all this is. Except that instead of sucking water, I'm sucking life. I've just sucked one year of your life away. I might one day go as high as five, but I really don't know what that would do to you. So, let's just start with what we have. What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest - how do you feel?" Chat made a cat like whimper as a response. "Interesting."

"Sire," Natalie says, entering the prince's office. "I have received information that assassins from Guilder are infiltrating the Thieves' Forest and plan to murder your bride on your wedding night."

"Thank you Natalie," Nathaniel, who is swamped with paperwork, says gratefully. "Please send some of the guards to look for them." Natalie nodded and left just as Ladybug enters.

"Any news from Chat?" She asks. She's been trying to regain her powers ever since she sent the letters so that she could defend herself and Chat more when he came for her. However, Ladybug noticed Nathaniel furrow his eyebrows in confusion and disappointment.

"Not yet but it's still too soon to worry about it," Nathaniel explained. "We just need patience." He did not voice the bad feeling he's been having lately. "Ladybug, I wish for you to be careful until after the wedding day. I have received news that you are currently being targeted." She nods her head in understanding.

"He will come for me," Ladybug reassured the prince before leaving.

"She will not be murdered. Juleka, Rose." The two women entered the room quickly. "On the day of the wedding, I want the Thieves' Forest emptied and every inhabitant temporarily arrested for the safety of the princess." He knew these two always listen. They were his best spies.

"Many of the thieves will resist. Our regular enforcers will be inadequate," Juleka informed.

"Form a Brute Squad then. I want the Thieves' Forest emptied so that Princess Ladybug stays safe. Inform them that the arrest will only be temporary," Nathaniel urged. He wanted to make sure she lived to see her familiar again.

"It won't be easy, Sire," Rose added sweetly.

"Try ruling the country," Nathaniel said with sympathy. The day of the wedding soon arrived and Juleka was helping the enforcers gather the thieves from the ground while Rose continued to shout from the top of a covered wagon.

"Has it been cleared out yet?" Rose asked Juleka.

"Almost. There is a fencer giving us trouble," Juleka said with annoyance.

"How is he giving you guys so much trouble?" Rose asked, curious. Meanwhile, Max was standing in front of an officer, a half empty bottle of apple juice in one hand and his sword in another.

"I am waiting for you, Chloe. You told me to go back to the beginning. So I have. This is where I am, and this is where I'll stay. I will not be moved," Max said. He takes a long drink from his apple juice but stops when one of the Brute Squad officers stands in front of him.

"The prince gave orders-" The officer, Roger, started.

"So did Chloe - when a job went wrong, you went back to the beginning. And this is where we got the job. So it's the beginning, and I'm staying till Chloe comes." Roger was about to argue more but stopped when something behind Max caught his eye. "I am waiting for Chloe."

"You are truly a bully," a deep voice said behind Max. A large hand lands on Max's shoulder and Max begins to compare his hand to the one on his shoulder before turning around.

"It's you!" Max said in happy surprise.

"True!" Ivan rhymed. Roger calls for assistance and Ivan begins to fight them with ease. He soon knocks out the brutes and takes Max a little ways away from the fight. "You don't look so good," Ivan commented. "You don't smell good either."

"Probably not but I feel fine," Max said. Then faints. Ivan takes him to an Inn where he spoon feeds Max stew. Ivan and Max were reunited. And as Ivan nursed his inebriated friend back to health, he told Max of Chloe's sudden disappearance and the existence of Hawkmoth, the man with the purple butterfly brooch. Considering Max's lifelong search, he handled the news surprisingly well. He fainted again. This time into his stew. To wake up his friend, Ivan filled two buckets of water. One filled with steaming water, the other with water clearly of an icy nature. Without a word FEZZIK stuffs Inigo's head into the icy water, then, after a reasonable amount of time, pulls him out, ducks him into the steaming stuff, and, a short time after that, puts him back in the cold again, then back in the hot - "That's enough! That's enough!" Max shouts. "Now where is Hawkmoth so that I may kill him?"

"He is with the prince and princess at the castle that's guarded by thirty men," Ivan informed.

"How many can you handle?" Max asked, trying to calculate how to win.

"Probably no more than ten." Max groaned, not used to thinking up strategies. He silently promises to study strategies more if he killed Hawkmoth.

"That leaves twenty for me and I can't even do that at my best. We're going to need help," Max said. "Chloe's strategies almost always worked.

"But no one knows where she disappeared to," Ivan said.

"I know that, but perhaps we could find someone else that's good at think up stuff?" Max's face suddenly lightens up. "Like, say, the man in black?"

"What?"

"Look, he bested you with strength, your greatness. He bested me with steel. He must have outthought Chloe, and a man who can do that can plan my castle's onslaught any day. Let's go -"

"Where?"

"To find the Man in Black, obviously."

"But neither of us knows where he is."

"Don't bother me with trifles; after twenty years, at last, my father's soul will be at peace. There will be blood tonight." Meanwhile, Nathaniel was busy in his study again as Juleka and Rose came in with a bow. The prince told them to rise and report their findings.

"The Thieves Forest has been emptied," Juleka states.

"And thirty men now guard the castle," Rose adds.

"Please double the guards. I wish for the princess to be safe," Nathaniel orders.

"The gate has but one key and I hold that, your highness," Juleka informs.

"Nathaniel," Ladybug says, barging into the room. "I left to the harbor to see if they have brought back any letters from my Chat but they said they were never ordered to do so." Nathaniel glared at his papers on his desk.

"I will speak with Hawkmoth on the matter princess. He was in charge of sending out those letters," Nathaniel said. Ladybug nods before leaving the room. She was about half way back to her room with she bumped into Hawkmoth.

"Greetings, princess. Tomorrow morning, your men will escort you and the prince to Florin Channel where every ship in the armada waits to accompany you on your honeymoon," Hawkmoth says, not noticing his slip.

"Every ship but our four fastest, you mean," she says, pretending not to know about the ships.

"Yes. Yes, of course. Naturally, not those four."

"You never sent the ships. Don't bother lying. It doesn't matter. Chat will come for me anyway."

"You're a silly girl."

"Yes, I am a silly girl, for not having seen sooner that you were nothing but a coward with a heart full of fear."

"I-would-not-say-such things-if-I-were-you" Hawkmoth growled out.

"Why not? You can't hurt me. Chat and I are joined by the bonds of love. And you cannot track that. Not with a thousand bloodhounds. And you cannot break it. Not with a thousand swords. And when I say you are a coward, that is only because you are the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth," Ladybug says, her voice slowly raising higher.

" **IWOULDNOTSAYSUCHTHINGSIFIWEREYOU!** " Hawkmoth shouts before grabbing her hair and dragging her the rest of the way to her room and locking her in. Then breaks into a wild run. Destination: Pit of Despair. Natalie was busy transferring his chicken scratch into neater handwriting. Hawkmoth runs straight to Chat Noir and leans over the poor cat man. "You truly love each other, and so you might have been truly happy. Not one couple in a century has that chance, no matter what the storybooks say. And so I think no man in a century will suffer as greatly as you will." He then whirls to the lever and grasps it.

"NO!" Natalie shouts. "Not to fifty!"

Meanwhile, Nathaniel had helped Ladybug free from her room with the help of Rose and Juleka. She then proceeded to tell the prince of her encounter with the wizard. Nathaniel was furious and probably would have started to shout had Ladybug not suddenly keeled over, pain etched into her face. Her mouth was open to scream but no sound came out. She eventually fainted because of the pain. In the distance, with Ivan and Max, they can hear the screams made by the black cat. They stopped in their place at the market to listen to the screams.

"Ivan, Ivan, listen, do you hear? - That is the sound of ultimate suffering. My heart made that sound when Hawkmoth slaughtered my father. The Man in Black makes it now," Max said, confidence in his voice. "His true love is marrying another tonight, so who else has cause for Ultimate Suffering?" Max begins to try to rush forwards, hoping to track the scream before it disappeared. Max wasn't loud enough to make the other people move and didn't get very far until Ivan boomed at everyone to move. Max thanked his comrade before they both rushed forwards in search for the man in black. They made it to the grove of trees before the screaming stopped. Max took his sword out and knelt to the ground. "Father, I have failed you for twenty years. Now our misery can end. Somewhere ... somewhere close by is a man who can help us. I cannot find him alone. I need you. I need you to guide my sword. Please." Max then rises and closes his eyes. "Guide my sword." Max, eyes shut tight, walks forward, the great sword held in his hands and Ivan following close behind with a worried expression on his face. The sword suddenly hits a knot in a tree and the staircase appears. Max opens his eyes and turns to Ivan, who had a shocked look on his face, before they both raced down the stairs. They found the unconscious Chat Noir and Ivan listened for the cat's heartbeat before shaking his head at Max.

"He's dead," Ivan said.

"It's just not fair," Max said with disappointment. "Well, we Kantes don't give up so easily. Grab the body, we're going."

"The body?"

"Do you have any money?"

"A little. Why?"

"Hopefully it's enough to buy a miracle." Max, Ivan, and Chat approach the door of an old hut and knock. From inside the hovel a man's voice is heard.

"Go away." Max knocks on the door again. A small window opens and you could see eyes peering out. "What? What?" Tartaruga says, annoyed.

"Are you the Miracle Fox who worked for the King all those years?" Max asked.

"No. Now go away." The little window shut and everything was quiet. Then murmurs could be heard inside before the window opened again to reveal a different set of eyes. The eyes widened when they caught sight of Chat and the window closed immediately before the door itself was opened and a woman was standing before them.

"Come in, quickly," she orders as she rushes inside to clear off a spot on the table. "Place him there." Tartaruga, who had a shell like structure on his back, was glaring at the new comers. "Stop your glaring and get me the medicine, turtle boy," she scolds before turning to Max and Ivan as he left. "I'm Volpina, the Miracle Fox. I recognize Ladybug's magic anywhere. How is it that you have her familiar?" Volpina questions. Max then tells her the story of kidnapping the princess, fighting Chat, and then later searching for him but finding him like this. "The King's stinking son fired me. And thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject. You know this could kill him-"

"He's already dead," Ivan said. Volpina raised an eyebrow and began her inspection.

"You got any money?" Tartaruga asked as he re enters the room.

"Sixty five," Max said. "Are you able to quicken this up?"

"Rush magic and you get bad outcomes. And I've never worked so little before," Volpina said.

"Except that one time but that was for a noble cause," Tartaruga interrupted.

"THIS is a noble cause. He is in love with his witch and she is being forced to marry another tonight!" Max says. Tartaruga fidgets. He too is a familiar, a turtle familiar, and he had fallen for his witch, Volpina. He could only imagine Chat's desperation.

"Well, you're in luck," Volpina said. "Your friend is only mostly dead. Not all dead. Now open his mouth." She grabs a bellow that is usually used to help fires grow and stuck it in his mouth after Ivan opened it. After several pumps, Volpina stopped. "Hey! Hello in there. Hey! What's so important? What you got here that's worth living for?"

"tr ... oooo ... luv…"

"True love. You heard him. You could not ask for a more noble cause than that," Max said.

"Sonny, true love is the greatest thing in the world. Except for a nice MLT, a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They're so perky, I love that. But that's not what he said. He distinctly said "to blave." And, as we all know, "to blave" means "to bluff." So you're probably playing cards, and he cheated," Tartaruga said only to be interrupted by Volpina.

"LIAR!" She walked away from Chat and the table as she began to advance on her familiar.

"Back witch!" Tartaruga shouts before trying to run from her. She caught him by a part of his shell and pulled him back to her.

"'True love.' He said, 'true love,' Tar. My God -" Tartaruga was about to interrupt but Volpina beat him. "Just shut up." She turned to their guests. "He's afraid. Ever since Hawkmoth fired me, his protectiveness has risen."

"Why'd you say that name?! You promised me you wouldn't say that name!" Tartaruga shouts as he covers his ears. Volpina then starts to shout Hawkmoth's name over and over again as she chases him around the room.

"He is Ladybug's true love! If we can get them together, Hawkmoth will have to let her go! Especially if we can convince the prince to wed them himself!" Max said. Tartaruga quickly covered his witch's mouth, a happy glint in his eyes.

"So you're saying that if we fix him up, it'll annoy Hawkmoth?" The turtle familiar asked. Max and Ivan nodded. "Well what are we waiting for?" He takes the sixty five and helps Volpina make a miracle. After several hours, Volpina covers a white lump with chocolate. "Miracle pill," the familiar explained to the two visitors.

"The chocolate helps making it go down easier. Ladybug taught me that," Volpina explained. "But you will have to wait fifteen minutes for full potency and don't go swimming for at least an hour. Now, when you boys are done, bring Ladybug and Chat Noir back here. I have something that Ladybug asked me for years ago." The boys thanked them, grabbed Chat, and left for the castle. "Bye bye Boys!"

"Have fun storming the castle!" Tartaruga calls after them. They made it on the top of the outer wall of the castle. They look down to the front gate of the castle where sixty Brutes are visible. Ivan is thunderstruck by how many Brutes there are. Upset, he turns to Max, who is concentrating unsuccessfully, trying to prop Chat against the wall.

"There are more than thirty,"Ivan tells Max.

"What's the difference? We've got him. Help me here. We'll have to force feed him," Max says.

"Has it been fifteen minutes?"

"We can't wait - the wedding's in half an hour and we must strike in the hustle and the bustle beforehand." During this, Ivan, using all his strength, has managed to get Chat into a right angled sitting position, while Max brings out the miracle pill. "Tilt his head back and open his mouth."

"How long do we have to wait before we know if the miracle works?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Max says, dropping the pill in Chat's mouth.

"I'll beat you both apart. I'll take you both together," Chat says, eyes open wide.

"I guess not very long," Ivan mutters.

"Why won't my arms move?" Chat asks.

"You've been mostly dead all day," Ivan explains.

"We had Miracle Fox make a pill to bring you back," Max said.

"Who are you? - Are we enemies? Why am I on this wall? - Where's Ladybug? -" Max quickly give him the shortened version of what they needed done.

"Ladybug is marrying Nathaniel in a little less than half an hour, so all we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the Princess, make our escape after I kill Hawkmoth," Max said.

"Well that doesn't leave that much time for us to lay around," Chat comments.

"Hey, you moved your finger," Ivan said.

"I've always been a fast healer. Now what are our liabilities?"

"One working gate that is guarded by sixty men," Max says.

"Assets?"

"Your brains, his strength, and my steel."

"That's it? Impossible. If I had a month to plan, maybe I could come up with something. But this…" Chat shakes his head.

"You just shook your head - that doesn't make you happy?" Ivan says, trying to brighten the mood.

"My brains, his steel, and your strength against sixty men, and you think a little head jiggle is supposed to make me happy? I mean, if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something."

"I saw one in the forest," Ivan informed. "And Tartaruga gave me this fireproof cloak."

"Great! Grab the wheelbarrow. I have a plan!" They helped him up. "I'll also need a sword eventually. No one else knows I can't lift it." With that, they scurried around to gather the things they needed. Meanwhile, Ladybug was in her wedding gown as Nathaniel clasped a pearl necklace around her neck.

"Are you sure you are up for this?" Nathaniel asked. "You only just recovered."

"Yes. My magic is stronger now, Nath," Ladybug responded. "He's coming. I can feel it but it's weak." Nathaniel had been taking care of Ladybug himself since she collapsed in pain and hadn't talked to Hawkmoth about his behavior yet.

"I only hope he will make it in time so that you and he will be happy," Nathaniel said, moving to stand in front of her and bowed. "I must go now. I have to get ready as well." Back with the trio as the looked at the gate again, they see Juleka and Rose flanked by sixty men. The ceremony has started inside, Xavier Ramier was performing the ceremony. The guards outside began to become frightened as a giant seems to be floating toward them out of the darkness, a Giant in a strange cloak, and with a voice that would crumble walls.

" **I AM THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS. THERE WILL BE NO SURVIVORS.** " Ivan shouts, scaring the men little bit at a time. " **MY MEN ARE HERE, AND I AM HERE, BUT SOON YOU WILL NOT BE HERE** "

"Light him," Chat told Max, who was carrying the familiar and pushing the cart. Max set fire to the cloak, which didn't burn as the fire surrounded the cloth.

" **THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS TAKES NO SURVIVORS. ALL YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES ARE ABOUT TO COME TRUE.** " All of the guards ran with the exception of Rose and Juleka.

Meanwhile, Ramier droned on and on. The ruckus from outside could be heard easily by the occupants of the room and it was making Hawkmoth nervous. Especially after Natalie had told him earlier that day that the familiar's body had just disappeared.

"Can we just hurry this up?" Hawkmoth growls at Ramier.

"Continue," Nathaniel said, ignoring the wizard's glare.

"Skip to the end," Hawkmoth insisted. The screams outside were slowly growing louder. Nathaniel and Ladybug spared each other a quick glance, both thinking the same thing. Chat was here. He was coming for her.

"Have you the rings?" Ramier asked. Hawkmoth handed the rings over, urging them to hurry. Outside, Ivan pulls off the cloak as he, Max, and Chat all surround Rose and Juleka. Well, technically Chat was on Max's back.

"My Chat is coming," Ladybug says, excitement lacing her voice.

"Your cat is dead," Hawkmoth says. "I killed him myself."

"Then why is there fear in your eyes?" Ladybug says with a smirk.

"Give us the key," Chat orders the two girls. Rose suddenly squeals and jumps up and down.

"You're Chat Noir, aren't you?" Rose asks with excitement. She had quickly noticed his cat ears on his head and knew he had to have been a familiar. Juleka simply smirked at the boys' shocked faces, Juleka then took the key from around her neck and tossed it to the boys.

"Have fun saving the princess," Juleka said as she and Rose stepped out of the way. They stood frozen for a moment before the boys went in to look for Ladybug.

"Man and wife- say man and wife," Hawkmoth ordered. Ramier did so, tired of the interruptions from the wizard. "Escort the bride and groom to the Honeymoon Suite - I'll be there shortly to ensure their safety." Nathaniel and Ladybug were furious at Hawkmoth's behavior. Hawkmoth and four guards are racing through the castle, and as they reach a complex intersection of several corridors, Hawkmoth stops. There, Chat, Max, and Ivan were moving toward them. Actually Ivan is dragging Chat, who is, in turn, dragging Rose's sword like a stiff dog leash -Chat simply hasn't the strength to raise it. "Kill the dark one and the giant, but leave the third for questioning," Hawkmoth orders the guards. And as his Warriors attack -Max goes wild, and maybe the Warrior's are good, maybe they're even better than that - but they never get a chance to show it because this is Max gone mad and his father's sword has never flashed faster and the fourth warrior is dead before the FIRST ONE has even hit the floor. There is a pause. Then -

"Hello. My name is Max Kante. You killed my father. Prepare to die." For a moment Hawkmoth just stands there, sword in hand. Then he does a most unexpected thing. He turns and runs away. Max is momentarily surprised, then taking off after him, leaving Chat and Ivan to exchange curious looks and Hawkmoth, running through a half-open heavy wooden door, shutting it and locking it just as Inigo throws himself against it. He tries again. No kind of chance. "Ivan! I need you!"

"I can't just leave him alone!" Ivan shouts back.

"He's getting away from me!" Ivan sighs and hangs Chat on a nearby armor set.

"I'll be right back," Ivan says before running after Max and helping him with the door. After thanking him, Max rushes through while Ivan went back to where he left Chat. Except Chat was no longer there. Meanwhile, Max continued to chase Hawkmoth through the corridors. Hawkmoth made it to a large room as he pulled out a dagger. When Max entered the room, Hawkmoth threw the dagger and hit Max. Right in his stomach. He hurtles back helplessly against the wall of the room, his eyes glazed, blood coming from his wound.

"... Sorry, Father ... I tried ... I tried…"

"You must be that little sword brat I taught a lesson to all those years ago. It's simply incredible. Have you been chasing me your whole life only to fail now? I think that's the worst thing I ever heard. How marvelous."

Meanwhile, Nathaniel and Ladybug were locked in the honeymoon suite. Ladybug was panicking over the rushed wedding.

"We never said 'I do' so we aren't really wedded. You can still go with your familiar when he come," Nathaniel said. "I'll even wed you two myself!"

"Thank you for the offer, Prince Nathaniel," a voice said from the bed, making the two gasp and turn to look.

"Chat!" Ladybug shouts, rushing to him and covering him with kisses. He tells her about what Hawkmoth tried to do and how Ivan and Max fixed him up and why he couldn't move to hold her. Back with Max and Hawkmoth, Max was trying to gather his strength again.

"Good heavens. Are you still trying to win?" Max, struggling feebly, pulling the dagger from his  
stomach. Holding the wound with his left hand. Hawkmoth is pushing off from the table, sword in hand, moving in to kill Max. "You've got an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. It's going to get you into trouble some day." Max watches the wizard approach, and the wizard flicks his sword at Max's heart, and there's not much Max can do, just kind of vaguely parry the thrust with his sword and Hawkmoth's blade sinks deeply into Max's left shoulder. Max doesn't seem to feel it, his other agonies are so much worse. Hawkmoth steps back to strike again. And as this blow comes Max is trying to use the wall for support in forcing himself to his feet, and it's not a roaring success of an attempt, but he does at least make some progress, and again he manages to parry the thrust, as this time Hawkmoth's sword runs through his right arm. Again, Max doesn't seem to mind, doesn't even feel it. Hawkmoth is stepping back for just a moment, watching as Max continues to inch his way to his feet and then, just before the wizard is about to strike again, Max manages a little flick of his own and Hawkmoth hadn't expected it, and he jumps back, makes a little involuntary cry of surprise and Max slowly pushing away from the wall.

"Hello. My name is Max Kante, you killed my father; prepare to die." Hawkmoth suddenly goes into a fierce attack, striking with great power and precision for he is a master swordsman, and he forces Max easily back, drives him easily into the wall. But he does not penetrate Max's defense. None of the wizard's blows get home. Max pushes from the wall again. "Hello. My name is Max Kante, you killed my father; prepare to die." Again the wizard attacks, slashing with wondrous skill. None goes through Max as he slowly begins to move forward. "Hello. My name is Max Kante, you killed my father; prepare to die."

"Stop saying that!" Retreating more quickly around the table. Max drives for the wizard's left shoulder now, thrusts home where the wizard had gotten him. Then another move and his blade enters the wizard's right shoulder, the same spot Max was wounded.

" **HELLO! MY NAME IS MAX KANTE. YOU KILLED MY FATHER. PREPARE TO DIE.** "

"No."

"Offer me money."

"Yes"

"Power too - promise me that -"

"All that I have and more please -"

"Offer me everything I ask for -"

"Anything you want"

" **I WANT MY FATHER BACK!** "

Max's sword flies through the wizard's body one final time. He with drawls his sword and Hawkmoth collapses. Max stares at the fallen wizard and smiles before racing off to find Chat Noir and Ivan.

"I thank you, prince," Chat said, still laying still on the bed.

"For what?" Nathaniel asks.

"For taking care of M'Lady when I was unable to."

"Anyone with a good spirit would do it." Suddenly, Max rushes into the room after unlocking it.

"Where's Ivan?" Max asks.

"I thought he was with you," Chat shoots back. He slowly rises to his feet and Ladybug helps steady him.

"Max!" They hear Ivan call. They follow the sound to the window. "Max, where are you?" Ivan looks up and sees them all at the window, reigns to four white horses in his heads. "Ah, there you are. Max, I saw the Prince's stables, and there they were, four white horses. And I thought, there are four of us, if we ever find the princess - hello, princess - so I took them with me, in case we ever bumped into each other. I guess we just did." Chat turns to Nathaniel to ensue the horses were okay for them to take and he nodded.

"Ivan, you did something right!" Max says to his friend.

"Don't worry-I won't let it go to my head," Ivan teased. Ivan holds out his arms to catch everyone and Ladybug is the first to step onto the window sill.

"Wait!" Nathaniel says, pulling off his wedding band. "Obviouly you both will say 'I do' so I will just say 'I now pronounce you man and wife.'" He hands the ring to Chat, Ladybug already wearing her's. She and Chat give a quick kiss before she jumps out the window and into Ivan's arms. Ivan then places her on one of the horses and waits for the next person.

"You know, it's very strange - I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life."

"Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts."

"That certainly sounds interesting. Oh! By the way, Volpina wanted you and Ladybug to stop by later," Max informed. The boys then jumped one at a time.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"They rode to freedom. And as dawn arose, Chat Noir and Ladybug knew they were safe. A wave of love swept over them. And as they reached for each other...Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The end."

"Hold up, Plagg! That doesn't tell me Ladybug's identity at all," Adrien complains. Back in Marinette's room, Tikki begins to giggle.

"You know, Plagg probably made this the ending," Tikki says with a giggle. "That silly kitty always tries to take the short way out."

"Then how does it end?" Marinette asks.

"Well, Chat and Lady went to visit Volpina and Tartaruga. Ivan and Max tagged along too because Max had accepted becoming the new Dread Pirate Roberts and Ivan was to be his first mate after Chat showed him the ropes."

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"You figured it out?" Ladybug asked Volpina, who nods.

"Figured what out?" Chat asked.

"I had asked Volpina to design a spell that will trap our powers into some kind of jewelry back before I thought you were dead," Ladybug explained.

"Yes but it won't just effect the two of you," Tartaruga cut in. "Because you two are so close to each other and the most powerful, it'll all Miraculous wizards and witches and their familiars."

"That means the four of us and Hawkmoth will be changed too," Volpina continued on.

"You don't have to worry about Hawkmoth-" Max started.

"You cannot kill a Miraculous wizard or witch with ordinary steel," Tartaruga informs. "He was probably messing with your emotions in order to get away. That is what he does."

"Anyways," Volpina interrupts. "The spell will basically split your personalities. Queen Bee and Pavone, her peacock familiar. For Queen Bee, she split into a human like girl named Chloe and a kwami named Buzz. Pavone became Lily and Duusuu."

"Wait, Chloe?" Ladybug questioned. "She kidnapped me!"

"Yes, well…" Volpina started.

"Queen Bee was being distracting during the spell," Tartaruga said. After a little more discussion, Volpina performed the spell on Ladybug and Chat Noir, knowing it will be her last spell. Now in Ladybug's place stood Marinette with Tikki on her shoulder while Adrien with Plagg on his shoulder stood in Chat's place. Where Volpina stood now stood Alya with Trixx, the fox kwami, on her shoulder. Where Tartaruga sat on the table now sat Nino with Wayzz on his head. After more talking, they said their goodbyes as they left. Adrien, Marinette, their kwamis, Max, and Ivan all returned to Ladybug's farm where Marinette and Ivan were told to wait until they returned. When they did a year later, Ivan took the place of first mate and Adrien stayed with Marinette at the farm house. They grew up and raised a family together with Ivan and Max visiting from time to time. Max stayed as a Pirate for quite some time but Ivan met a girl named Maylene that he quickly fell in love with. Later, when they grew old, Nino sent his Kwami out to look for a new holder to protect the rest of the Miraculous gems. Wayzz soon found a boy named Fu, a reincarnation of an older Dread Pirate Roberts. Ever since then, the turtle miraculous would switch between the two souls to protect the rest of the miraculous. At one point, a future reincarnation of Ladybug and Chat Noir found out that Hawkmoth had split into Gabriel and Nooroo.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Marinette was freaking out. Adrien and Chat were the same person. Meanwhile, Adrien was very happy. His princess and his lady were one and the same. Although, Plagg's clue from before now made sense. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Marinette after she finally calmed down.

"Tikki? What were their original names?"

"Buttercup and Wesley," Tikki answered. Once Marinette thought about her crush and partner being the same person, it calmed her enough to fall asleep. Adrien on the other hand, began to freak out. She always shot down his flirts when he was Chat Noir and could barely say a word to him when he was Adrien. He thought that she might hate him but still had hope because of what his kwami told him. Alya nearly fainted when she found the rolls switched the next morning. Marinette was a few minutes early and was already sitting in her seat while Adrien was a few minutes late and looked exhausted. During lunch, when the four of them were having lunch together, Nino and Alya stared with jaws dropped as Marinette easily spoke to Adrien and even flirted with him a little while Adrien was the stuttering mess.

"Seriously, what happened?" Nino asked Alya after their friends were out of earshot. "Did an akuma suck us into an Alternate Universe when we were sleeping?"

"That's what I've been thinking," Alya said. During patrol, nothing changed with the exception of the stuttering stopping. Adrien had finally gotten over the initial shock and was now flirting back with her. The flirting intensified for weeks before Adrien finally asked Marinette to the movies and Paris didn't find out about Ladybug and Chat Noir's relationship until two weeks later when they gave Alya an exclusive interview.


End file.
